Chapter 58
Fifty-Eight
Ayla
When the cart was empty, Zasen had everyone pull back. Kanik jogged down to join me while the Reapers and Dragons discussed what happened next. I knew I should go back and listen, but I was fixated on the door.
"Well?" Kanik asked.
I pointed at the small metal rectangle set to the side. "That's a keypad."
"What does it do?" he asked.
"It's electronic," I explained. "Pressing the right pattern of numbers will release the lock."
"Ayla, there's no numbers on it," he said softly.
"There were," I assured him. "I've seen photos of what these looked like long ago. There were many kinds. Some were on communication devices. Others were on doors or other things."
And he shifted a little closer. "Ayla, what's the code?"
"Four, four, six, three," I said, keeping my hands at my sides.
"What happens if it's not?"
Finally, I pulled my eyes away from the thing to look at him. "I don't know. They don't tell women things like that."
"What do you think happens?" he pressed.
I had to swallow. "It doesn't open."
"Or?" he asked.
"An alarm sounds?" I was guessing at that. "I do know trying to open it will make an alarm. It will wake every person down there."
"And they'll all pour out," he realized. "Shit!"
"Yeah," I breathed.
"Okay, time to plan." And he grabbed my hand, towing me away from the thing that could either solve everything or maybe get me killed.
The hill was steep, but not too bad. It was the sort of hill I could easily run up without slowing, but I'd be breathing hard by the time I reached the top.
A few feet behind that the trees started again, but they were more sparse than a true forest. Grass was visible in between.
In the distance, the forest grew dense again, and while I was pretty sure this wasn't where I'd been hung out that first night, it was much too similar.
A dozen paces back, set just far enough to not be seen from the compound's doorway, all the volunteers were crowded together and talking furiously. Dragons, Reapers, dogs, and the carts with horses were all there, ready to head back, or so it looked.
"Update!" Kanik said as we reached the group, heading for where Zasen and Rymar were easy to pick out among the rest. "If we try this, it could call the Moles."
"Fuck!" Rymar groaned.
"So," Zasen said, sounding like we'd just proven his point, "this is why all of you need to head back. We can give you an hour's lead time. There's no way men on foot will catch up with the carts."
Rymar bent to scratch Pepper's head. "And then?"
So I pointed at my dog. "She'll find you if we don't."
"No." Rymar crossed his arms and gave me a stern look. "I'm not leaving you behind, Ayla."
And a Reaper pushed closer. "I'm not letting you Dragons have all the fun."
"We came for our revenge," a woman said, making it clear our conversation was far from private. "Everyone here knew they could come out. We're fucking hoping for it. So if you can open those doors, we're going in!"
"It will be dark," I said.
"Don't care," she assured me. "We can make torches if we have to."
"Do it," Zasen said. "I want groups of three to five. Four is ideal, but we don't have even numbers for that. Two torches for each group."
"And then?" I pressed.
Zasen clasped my shoulder. "Then, if the doors do open, we'll be able to see. You can lead us through this place, right?"
I nodded.
"And narrow halls mean we'll be able to use a small force to defeat a large one," he assured me.
Kanik made a noise. "There's one thing you're forgetting, Zasen." And he turned to me. "Ayla, do they have guns with them?"
I sucked in a breath. "No! The weapons are locked away. When the hunters return, they have to secure them in the weapons room. That's at the back!"
"Guards?" the woman asked, still listening in. "Anyone armed to secure the door?"
"I don't know," I admitted. "On the other side of that door is a long hall.
It's almost as long as the Reaper's camp.
At the end of it, the hall splits. One side is where women aren't allowed.
The other side leads to the dining hall and other communal areas.
We were never allowed into the hall that leads to the door.
At most, we could look up it, but it was too long to see anything. "
"So a long push," Zasen realized.
"I say we do it," one of the Reapers insisted.
"I'm in," Rymar said. "Zasen, you have twenty-two people willing to do this. Even if we go down in a blaze of glory, we'll hurt them badly enough Lorsa will be able to recover."
He nodded. "Okay. Do we leave the dogs out here?"
"No," I said, glancing at Holly. "She knows how to find Tobias. She can lead me to him and Callah!"
"Nice," Kanik breathed.
I nodded, feeling even better about this. "We can do this! I know halls they don't. I know places we can hide to get around them, and with only twenty of us..."
And Zasen huffed out a laugh. "This could work?"
"I don't know," I admitted again. "That's the problem. I do not know!"
"Do you think it can work?" Kanik pressed.
Swallowing hard, I jiggled my head in a meek and nervous little nod.
I did think it could work. I was more terrified of what would happen if it didn't. I might die, but that was okay.
My bigger fear was living. Being wounded to die slowly, or worse, being locked away in quarantine, aware of what's up here, but forced to breed children for one of the elders!
"Just don't let me live?" I asked, looking up at Zasen.
"No," Kanik said. "Ayla, the goal is to live."
"No one's going to get to you," Rymar hurried to say.
But Zasen's orange eyes found mine and held them. "I swear, Ayla," he said, ignoring the others.
"No!" Kanik snapped.
"She's not asking to die!" Zasen barked at him. "She's asking to not be held prisoner and raped, you idiot!"
"Oh," Rymar breathed.
Kanik's shoulders simply slumped. "Yeah. I didn't think about that. They'll try to spare her."
"And make me pay," I agreed, reaching down for Holly. "But the girls won't let that happen. We can do this. I hope we can do this."
"We want to do this," the Reaper woman assured me. "It's time for the Moles to see what it feels like to be invaded. They killed my nephew. I'm going to make sure all of them lose someone now."
"Then let's do this!" Zasen said. "Torches! Do not light them yet. Only one, and I will hold that."
"Why you?" someone whined.
"Because when they come out shooting, they'll aim for the light," Zasen told him. "Let's not give them too many targets."
Everyone moved. The carts were led away, the horses secured, and weapons were strapped on.
Among the many supplies Reapers carried was a resin that was poured onto the torches, getting them ready to burn for as long as we needed.
The whole time, my heart hammered in my chest and the sun shifted lower in the sky.
It was halfway between noon and sunset when everything was finally ready. Then and only then did Zasen have someone light his torch. With that in one hand, his krael in the other, he led the group of us forward.
"Okay, Ayla," he said. "Let's do this."
"What if I make a mistake?" I asked, looking back at the guardians and militia members all ready to risk their lives.
It was Xav who answered. "Then we tried." And he nodded.
Something about that gesture gave me the confidence to do this. Maybe it was Demon sitting beside him. It could've been Holly and Pepper standing with their noses pointed at the door instead of the heaping pile of meat. Even the murmur of voices behind me felt like encouragement.
"Hold your torch this way, Zasen," I said, moving to the keypad.
With the extra light, I could make out the indentations of numerals. The paint or ink that had once marked them was long gone, and the centers of the pads had been worn down enough to make each one into a little bowl.
I double checked the numbers, then reached up and pressed the four. The button clicked. Not only the switch, but there was something else there. Something electronic. I pressed the button again, realizing it was a little hum of power.
Six came next, then the three - and then there was a different click. Zasen tensed beside me. I reached for an arrow out of habit, but I didn't nock it to my bow. Instead, I checked my dogs.
"Dogs, guard," I whispered, because inside, something was humming with power.
"I hear it!" a Reaper said.
And then lights erupted from everywhere.
A screeching sound deafened me, rolling like waves of intensity in a way I hadn't realized sound could do.
My ears rang, everything else became inaudible, and the steel door before me shifted hard, making puffs of dust on the side as even more metal rods shot out to the frame to secure it.
"Go!" I yelled, but the sound drowned out my words.
Zasen was already waving the fighters back up the hill. Grabbing my hand, he pulled me back and shoved the end of his lit torch into the pile of meat - wrenching it between a boar's front legs to hold it upright. Then the pair of us chased after the others, my dogs rushing on ahead.
The sound didn't fade.
That was the intruder alarm, but I didn't remember it being so loud! Inside, people would be scrambling to protect the compound. Girls would be waking up afraid, huddling together in their rooms. Men would be rushing for their weapons.
We ran for the carts. Halfway there, I heard the first whistles as dog handlers summoned their animals to them. The cries of Reapers and Dragons trying to organize no longer mattered. Someone was waving people to climb into the beds of the carts, and others were racing on ahead.
Retreating was one thing we knew. It was how we got around the Moles and hit them from behind, but this time, we were the ones being chased.
I could see Rymar's bright yellow tail leading the way.
Kanik was right behind him, but kept looking back to make sure I was keeping up, and Zasen was following behind me.
"Girls, up!" Rymar yelled as he leaped into the back of the last cart and reached out for Kanik
"Get Ayla!" Kanik snapped as he rolled into the empty spot beside Rymar.
"No!" I said, slowing down to turn back. "Take the dogs!" And my feet stalled out. "They'll come out and we'll be able to see the code!"
"No," Zasen growled, hooking an arm around me to toss me up to Rymar. "Hold her. Holly, Pepper, up!" And he patted the side of the cart.
It started moving before he was in, but the moment Pepper was out of the way, Zasen jogged his way close enough, then jumped, landing halfway on me and Rymar.
"Go!" he barked. "We want to be out of sight before they crest that hill!"
And the driver yelled, "Ha!" at his horse, kissing the air quickly.
The cart bounced and heaved. Kanik grabbed Holly, keeping her from sliding around. I managed to secure Pepper. The others in the cart already had their own dogs hugged close.
And behind us, dust drifted up in the bright daylight, looking like a bit of reassurance. The Moles couldn't follow us in this. They'd all be blind.
But the code didn't work.